I Can Do That
by choirnerd98
Summary: What will Les do when Davey leaves for college? I feel like it's just a fact that most summaries are not that great, but grown up Les.
1. I Can Do That

Hello! I'm back! Sorry it's been awhile, but I've been on vacation. This story is set in the same universe as my other Jacobs story I.e. mom and dad dead and older Newsies gone from the lodging house. Honestly its pretty much just like an extension of that. Ummmmmmmm, if you read my other stories, you might hate this one, but I'll explain more at the end. Enjoy!

* * *

Les heard a quiet knock on his bedroom door.

"Hey,buddy, are you in there?" Davey called.

Les didn't move. He knew what was coming, and he wanted to put it off as long as possible.

"We need to talk."

Les continued to stare at the door; silently willing his older brother to walk away.

"Les, I know you're there." Davey pushed open the door and walked through.

"Hi."

"Hey, so there's something I need to tell you."

Les just stared at his homework, trying to keep the tears out of his eyes.

"So I got a letter from Harvard today..."

Les nodded, he had overheard the conversation that Davey had with the guys earlier.

"...and I got into the school."

"So, you're going to be leaving."

"I guess you already knew."

Les nodded. Davey had been waiting for the letter all summer and Les had always known that once he got it, he would be leaving.

"But, I'll come back to visit all the time!"

Finally, Les looked up at his brother and gave him a watery smile. "We both know that's not true."

Davey reached over and put an arm around Les's shoulder. "I guess you're not a naive little boy anymore."

"No, not quite."

"I'll still come back for summer and Christmas."

"Ya, I know, but what about the other 9 months of the year? What am I gonna do without my best friend?"

"You'll be fine without me. You always seem to be leadin me around anyways."

Les nodded his head in agreement,and pushed his homework to the side.

"I know it's going to be difficult for you, but it's for the best. After I come back, both of our lives will be immensely better."

"I know, but what am I gonna do until then?"

"Well actually that's a good question that comes with a little bit of good news..."

Les looked over at his brother and raised an eyebrow.

"You see, I can't really afford the apartment anymore, so I guess you'll just have to move into the lodging house."

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"Yes, and I guess since you'll be living in the Newsboy lodging house, you'll have to become a full time Newsie."

"What about school? I thought you would never let that happen?"

"Well, I talked to your teachers, and they all were under the impression that you would thrive being home schooled. So Kloppman is going to give you your assignments at the beginning of the week and you need to return the completed work at the end of the week."

"I can do that!"

* * *

So I'm sorry that this started off super similar to like 3 of my other stories, but my best friend in the whole world is moving to a private school and I literally haven't seen her in a month and those emotions gave birth to the beginning of this story. Then the next day I was like alright I'm okay now, but I didn't want to let this go to waste, so I had the idea that I'm going to change this into a chapter story about Les taking over for Romeo and a ton of new Newsies so I would love some characters. Just send me the info over a PM and I'll do my best to get them into the story. Just a forewarning however, I reserve the right to not put them in and I'm really not great at writing for female characters(I have no idea why) so you're going to have to be beyond descriptive if you send me a girl. Alright I hope you're as excited for this as I am! It's currently 11:33 AM MST so goodnight, goodmorning, and good everything in between.


	2. Pup

I'm baaaaaack! Sorry I've been gone for so long but if you heard about all the tragedies that happened in Albuquerque, my mom was really close to that family and then my best friend had to switch to new meds and it threw her off and totally made her depression and anxiety worse. So I actually did write a lot of stories based around all that but they were honestly really bad so they are gone, and some how in the middle of all of that, I got my first high school crush and that brought just a whole new kind of dreams onto my life and I am actually putting that into my book, so...anyhow sorry about being gone and see you after the story

* * *

"Alright, boys. Time to get movin!"

"Ya, time ta git movin!"

Les smiled as the little boy squeaked behind him.

"Come on, Billy. Sun's up." Les gently pushed on the teenager's shoulder.

"No."

"Billy the last time you slept in, you didn't ge-" Les caught the scrawny boy as he got pushed off his bed.

"The sun's up, Billy!" Pup smiled down at Billy as the disgruntled Newsie pushed off of Les and shuffled into the bathroom.

"Frankie, remember, you can go on my morning rounds with me, but no pushing the boys off top bunks anymore, okay?"

Pup vigorously nodded his head, causing his messy, blonde hair to bounce around.

"Okay, go get ready."

Pup jumped down to the floor and ran into the bathroom. Les looked around to make sure the rest of the boys were up and moving and was unsurprised to see Sleepy blissfully tucked under his blanket.

"Sleepy, time to go, you're gonna be late." Les gently shook the boy.

"Mmhh!"

"I'm gonna be back in five minutes."

"Mrgh."

Les chuckled and walked into the bathroom and reached for his razor, only to find that it wasn't there. He quickly looked around and spotted Pup covered in shaving cream from head to toe.

"Les! Look, I'm just like you!"

"Pup, you only shave your face, and you don't have to shave yet. You'll probably cut yourself."

Pup shook his head and scraped the razor down his leg. "Ow! Les it stings really badly!"

Les walked into the toilet stall and grabbed a wad of toilet paper. "Okay, ready, Pup, this is going to make it get better."

"Ahhhhh! Yous said it was gonna git better."

Les gripped Pup's shoulder in an attempt to keep to kid from falling on the floor, but the shaving cream caused his hand you slip. "Okay, Pup, you need to take a shower, okay?"

He nodded his head and slowly stood up, but fell down again.

"Okay, kid, here we go." Les bent down and picked him up like a baby and carried him into the bathtub. "Now, you wash up and I'll be back soon." Les walked out of the bathroom and over to his drawer. He smiled as he changed out of his shaving cream covered clothes and thought about how much Pup reminded him of himself. Even the clothes. Les started laughing as he thought about the first time he met Pup...

* * *

"Wait, Romeo, where are ya gonna live now?"

"I got an apartment with soma da fellas dat I'm workin with."

"Well, see ya round then."

"Fow shoir, oh and Ise left ya somethin on the rooftop" Romeo pulled Les in for a hug as both of the boys' eyes started to water.

Les gently closed the door behind Romeo and then made his way up to the roof. He started to speculate about what the surprise was. He finally concluded that Romeo had probably written him a letter with some wise words of advice as he rounded the final turn of the fire escape. Instead he found a box, neatly wrapped in newspapers. He quickly ripped off the paper and opened the box. He peered inside and saw four letters and some tissue paper. He opened the first letter and started to read it...

Dear Les and future leaders,

My name is Romeo, and I lead the gang from 1903-1905. My advice to you is to show the boys that you love them. For a lot of them, you will be the only parent they will ever have.

Dear Romeo and future leaders,

My name is Specs, and I was the leader from 1900-1903. My advice to you is to look at the whole picture. When the boys get into fights or you have to make a large decision, make sure you have all the information.

Dear Specs and future leaders,

My name is Jack Kelly and I lead the boys from 1896-1900. My advice to you is to always fight for what you believe in, and stick with your brothers through everything.

Instructions for the newest leader

1 Don't forget to write a letter to the next leader.

2 The cap is yours to wear and keep safe. If hard times hit, use the cap's contents, but don't forget to restock it when everything settles down.

3 Calm down, you can do this.

Les took a deep breath and grabbed a familiar cap from inside the box. Tears dripped out of his eyes as he held Jack's/Spec's/Romeo's cap and fond memories of growing up came rushing back to him. He pulled it down on his head and realized that it was surprisingly hefty. Les pulled it off and noticed a slight bulge in the bill. He pushed apart the fabric and saw a few hundred dollars stuffed in the hat. He smiled in relief and shoved the hat back over his hair.

"Les!"

Les walked back down the fire escape to the little boy shouting for him. "What's up, Billy?"

"Eh...uh, it...buh..." Billy gave up and motioned for Les to follow him. They walked down through the house until they got to the last flight of stairs. "Down there."

Les slowly walked down the stairs, slowly getting more terrified of what was at the bottom. When he finally reached the last step, he was expecting a dragon, but instead he saw a little kid standing in the middle of the room...butt-naked.

"Hello?"

"Hi! I'm Frankie."

"Hi, Frankie...I'm Les."

"Candles said I'm gonna be a newsboy!"

"Oh, okay." Les said, relieved to have more information. "Well how about we get you some clothes then?"

"No, thanks."

"Um, okay why not?"

"I don't like the way they feel."

Les nodded and stood up. "I think I might have a solution. Follow me."

The boys walked up stairs and Frankie sat down on Les's bed as Les rummaged through his old stuff. Triumphantly, he pulled out one of his old shirts and handed it to the boy.

"Here, try this. I used to be just like you, so my brother used to make them really fluffy for me."

Frankie shoved his arms through the sleeves and poked his head out the top. "Ooh! Ise likes dis."

"Good, youse can have all of these. I gotta go check on soma da boys." Les handed him the bag of clothes and walked down the stairs.

"So...what was dat all about?"

"Candles found him and brought him back."

"Ya, Ise knows dat. Candles dumped him on me and then took off. What about his clothes?"

"He don't like da starchiness of da clothes, so I gave him my old ones."

"Oh, okay then. Well, I gotta go finish selling my papes." Billy swung his bag over his shoulder and ran out the door.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Pup screamed as his trousers rubbed against new cut.

"Okay, buddy. Ise thinks youse is jist gonna have to stay here today." Les commented, once again trying to calm down the crying boy.

Pup nodded his head and settled into his bed as Les ran out the door. Les ran through the circulation gate as the last boy got his papers.

"A hundred papes please."

"Please what?"

"Please...Mista Delancey's" Les groaned. It was moments like these that made him miss the Weasel. Les grabbed his papers and walked to his normal corner.

"Firefighters success rate in steep decline!"

"Hey, Les! The usual?"

"Sure. Thanks Junior."

The young teenager ducked under his father's arm and ran into the kitchen as Les went to sit with his boys at their usual lunch table.

"Hello, Les!"

"Hi, Mr. Jacobi."

"How's the selling been so far today?"

"Eh, the usual. The headline sucks, but I've only got about thirty left."

"Well that's-"

 _Woo! Woo! Wooh!_ The old restaurant owner was cut off by the loud sirens of a fire truck. Everyone turned towards the dark windows as the red trucks went zooming past.

"Wow! Haven't seen one of those down here in awhile."

"Well there really ain't that much past this."

"I suppose. Just the trains and some factories and the lodging house of course."

"The lodging house!"

* * *

I know, I know sorry for the super cheesy ending. Anyhow hope it wasn't too confusing and you enjoyed it. Shout out to Biankies for the character of Pup. Keep the characters coming please! Alright before I start ranting again, it is 1:46 AM MST so goodnight, goodmorning, and good everything in between.


	3. A Pile of Ashes

Les gripped his mug as someone draped a blanket over him. He had gone through this twice already but he still had no idea what to do. When his dad died, his mom was there, and when his mom passed away, he had an entire family of Newsies to help him. This time he was supposed to support an entire family of Newsies. He had failed. One of his little brothers was dead. The lodging house was just a pile of ashes. His little buddy was gone and nothing could ever bring him back.

"Hey, buddy."

"Hi, Davey"

Davey sat down next to Les and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"So, Jack and Crutchie are almost out of school and they said they'd come over when they were done. The other boys are with Specs and Romeo at Jacobi's and-"

"Davey, what am I gonna do? The boys can't stay there forever and Pup. Pup is gone. I let him die."

"Les, shhh. Hey, it's okay you'll get through. You'll figure it out, but for now your boys need you."

"I can't. I can't face them, not yet."

"Yes. Yes you can. You're the boy that took on Pulitzer when you were nine. And right now you have to because they're relying on you."

"Davey…I-AHHHH!" Les screamed as a searing pain raced down his back. He looked behind him as fire engulfed him completely.

"Les! Les! LES! Wake up!" Davey gently shook his little brother awake.

"Davey?!"

"Ya, Les. I'm here. Calm down, you're movin' around too much. Your bandages are getting messed up."

"Davey! What happened? Pup?! The Lodging House?!"

"Les, everything's fine. Pup is in the next room over. The firefighters put the fire out before it did too much damage."

Les nodded in relief and took a deep breath. He looked around what appeared to be a hospital room. "What happened? I don't rememba much."

"I don't know. I just got here. Billy's on his way up. He knows everything."

"Okay."

"Are you okay? Do ya need anything?"

"I'm okay."

A nurse rapped sharply on the door. "Mista Jacobs, a boy named Billy is here to see you."

"Hey, Billy."

"Hi, Les."

"So what happened? I don't rememba much."

"Well there was a fire at the lodging house and when I got der from my sellin' spot, you punched a fire fighta, and then ya ran into the house."

"Les, you punched a fire-fighter? Do you know how much trouble you could be in for that?"

Les shot his brother a glare and turned back to Billy.

"Anyways, we's all waited for a minute until you ran out carrying Pup. Youse looked pretty okay until we noticed that your back was flamin'. So them fire-fighters put youse out and then carted ya here."

"Okay. That explains a lot. So, how are all the boys doin'? How's Pup?"

"Pup is fine; some smoke inhalation, but the doctas are gettin' pretty fed up wit him cause he keeps hidin' der equipment."

"Ha okay, what about da boys?"

"They're going on with their usual routine," Davey interjected. "And a few of them are staying with Jack and Katherine, some are staying with Crutchie, and the rest are staying with Specs and Romeo."

"Okay…hah!" Les yawned.

"Hey, buddy. Why don't you get some sleep? The doctor said you'd only be able to stay up for a few minutes at a time."

"Okay. Thanks, Billy."

Billy nodded and walked out of the room. Les closed his eyes and quickly started snoring.

"Sleep tight, buddy. I love you." Davey leaned down and gently kissed his brother's forehead as he pulled a blanket over his shoulders.

* * *

Sorry, sorry, I'm literally so sorry. Okay not really but I hope you enjoyed it. This is why I posted that random chapter about Romeo moving in with Specs. Ummmmmmmmm okay let's see I've really jumped onto the Hamilton band-wagon lately so you should watch their performance at Gypsy of The Year. It is amazing as a performance and the message that they are conveying is also spectacular.

Oh and another video that should be watched by everyone is the Broadway Backwards performance of Cell Block Tango. Ryan Steele is obviously amazing. So this marks the end of my uploading streak. It is 1:35 PM MST so good night, good morning, and good everything in-between.


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